A thick fog swirled at the summit of Quintana Negro.
But unlike the stage in the spring's Tour de Dauphine—the fog-shrouded race where Huang Chong had led Roglič to victory, with visibility completely obscured—the cameras were able to get a clear shot of him crossing the line first today.
The image was striking, as if he had won by parting the thick fog with some supreme power, letting the sun shine through. Such a scene was a true rarity on the World Tour circuit.
This dominant victory for Huang Chong on the final race day of the second week could only be attributed to the combination of high altitude, a brutally difficult and steep slope, and the notoriously unpredictable weather of northern Spain.
After Huang Chong caught up, Vlasov was completely spent, unable to provide any sort of tactical lead-out.
